The rack panel of this disclosure generally relates to a novel panel for rack enclosures and a more efficient and effective method to cool the rack-mounted equipment inside the rack enclosures and to a method to more uniformly deliver large volumetric flows of cool air to cool a tall-standing rack enclosure containing such electronic equipment such as servers.
Most electronic equipment, particularly servers, is commonly arranged on racks and stacked vertically within the rack enclosure. These racks or enclosures meet industry standards for form and fit. As the equipment [servers] is on and operating, which commonly is 24 hours per day, seven days a week, they generate heat. The more servers, the greater the heat. Heat will build up and cause a slow down to the function of the equipment or a breakdown. Consequently, to maintain high degrees of efficiency and continued operation, the equipment within must be cooled.
To cool the equipment inside the rack enclosure, the electronic equipment within is usually designed to draw air from the same side, the front of the rack enclosure. Further, more than one rack enclosure is in a room. Generally the rack enclosures, with electronic equipment within, may be located in a special room where the fully equipped rack enclosure is on a raised floor with a sub-floor under the raised floor. The space between the sub-floor and the raised floor has ample space for power and data and communications cables, and generally has cold air circulating laterally throughout that space. In some applications, the cold air from that space is introduced in proximity to the front of the rack enclosures to cool the electronic equipment.
As electronic equipment becomes more and more powerful and faster and faster in operation, it becomes hotter and hotter. It is therefore necessary to introduce larger amounts of cold air from the space between the sub-floor and the raised floor in order to better cool the electronic equipment. For rack enclosures designed to industry standards [such as the EIA-310, the IEC 60297, and the Din 41494 and SC48D] there is limited space within the rack enclosure to accommodate larger flows of cold air which are necessary to properly cool the electronic equipment.
In theory, this is overcome by using high velocity air, but this air moves so fast through small ducts that it cannot be delivered evenly to the electronic equipment. A better rack enclosure component and method were needed to more efficiently and effectively move the large quantities of cold air necessary for proper cooling of the electronic equipment from the space between the sub-floor and the raised floor to the inlet surface of electronic equipment within the rack enclosure and to distribute that air more evenly throughout the entire rack enclosure and thereby, more evenly to and through the electronic equipment.
This novel panel of the present disclosure for use with current rack enclosures and the method incorporated thereby is intended to fulfill the need to more evenly introduce of large amounts of sub-ambient [cold] air to the surfaces of the rack enclosure and particularly to the electronic equipment within.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the rack panel of this disclosure. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the rack panel of this disclosure. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed rack panel of this disclosure in a different manner or by modifying the rack panel of this disclosure within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the rack panel of this disclosure may be had by referring to the summary of the rack panel of this disclosure and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the rack panel of this disclosure defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.